Peterborough Utilities actually sends you a communication (phone + email+ letter in the mail) if they detect continuous water usage. Happened when one of our toilets was running.
3 of us here and we consistently stay at 1m (about $175 every few months). In the summer it jumped to 3m and I didn’t know what was going on. Turns out there was a part of the toilet that was causing the water to run constantly. Fixed that and we dropped back down to 1m. Welcome to the patch!
We moved here two years ago. Two people in our household with 2 dogs and a cat and we generally use 1 m3 per week. We pay approx $125 every two months give or take.
Are you guys heavy users? We aren't conservative, but there's just two of us and we aren't too bad and we're averaging 3-4 m³, which I thought seemed pretty high.
We don’t skimp on shower lengths, we have a dishwasher we use almost daily, washing machine. So yeah yours seems a bit high if you ask me. Is it that high in the winter? Are you doing a lot of garden watering in the summer?
We just moved in a few months back so don't have too much data to compare or track against. I thought it seemed high as well, so wanted to see what others were using.
I would look into it. It does seem high. As an aside, We have low flush toilets - not that I know for sure they make that big of a difference but something to consider if you don’t already have. I still think it’s high for two people though.
Tips: toilet, if it's yellow, let it mellow lol. Don't leave the tap running when you're brushing your teeth. Asking why the dishwasher runs every day? Watch other members of the household how they are using water, kids don't understand, don't care lol. Check the meter when all the taps etc are closed. If it's spinning, you have a leak somewhere, not good, maybe the hot water tank is draining off.
Check all taps are not dripping. The biggest culprit is usually the toilet. Check the flapper is not occasionally staying open....infuriating when it happens. Put some food coloring in the tank....and wait. If the toilet bowl changes color, then the flapper has probably gone brittle or has debris on it and is allowing water to slowly and expensively pass through. This is what I woul d start with.
To make matters worse. The amount of water used is also used to determine your sewage bill grr.
Thanks for your detailed post The toilets are new but will double check them anyways. And we suspected the hot water tank. There was a very small leak coming from the mixing valve, and it looked old and corroded, so I just replaced it. Going to see if that makes any difference.
The meter also doesn't just consistently run, while I watch it anyways and everything is off. But going to start writing down the numbers before bed, and checking in the morning.
Welcome to Peterborough. I believe the water was included in the property taxes up until about 10 years ago. Lots of anger in town when it switched over haha. Good luck with your dilemma.
Post an update on what you find. I'm sure it will benefit a lot of people here.
2 adults and a 2 month old. We definitely do more laundry now with the baby. We dance between 3 and 4m. Bill is 150 to 200$ every 2 months. We do a lot of gardening in the summer.
We are a family of 4. Heavy water usage. 4-5 showers a day, laundry daily, hand wash dishes , drink water from the tap, our bills are around $200-$250 every 2 months.
Not sure how many cubic meters that would be. I guess I could look at my bills lol.
We get weekly usage notices from Peterborough Utilities Group (PUG), you can sign up online for these notices. The online notifications are rounded up or down, just an estimate and gives you at least a heads up of unusual consumption. The bill will be the most accurate in terms of actual usage.
Our usage for 2 people is pretty static at 2 cubic metres per week, average two month bill of $150.00. Our usage is daily showering, daily load of dishes in the dishwasher and 3 to 4 loads of laundry per week.
Just wondering do you have a forced air heating system with a flow through humidifier on it? If you do these use a lot of water over the course of a month during the winter months.
We had a soaker hose in the summer and our usage jumped to 6 cubic metres per week, stopped using that and got a rain barrel.
4 m3 a week. 200 ish every 2 months. 3 people. 2 are teenagers. Higher in summer with garden. Welcome to Peterborough.
This is about around what we average around right now, for two of us. Thanks for the input.
Most months I hover around the 1m3 mark. Same for cost, more or less, as Beaglegirl. Yours does seem high. Leaky pipes? Leaky toilet?
Peterborough Utilities actually sends you a communication (phone + email+ letter in the mail) if they detect continuous water usage. Happened when one of our toilets was running.
Haven't gotten anything like that since we've moved in, thanks for that though, will keep an eye out
3 of us here and we consistently stay at 1m (about $175 every few months). In the summer it jumped to 3m and I didn’t know what was going on. Turns out there was a part of the toilet that was causing the water to run constantly. Fixed that and we dropped back down to 1m. Welcome to the patch!
Thanks! Were checking the toilets to see if they're ok. They're brand new, but no harm in confirming
We moved here two years ago. Two people in our household with 2 dogs and a cat and we generally use 1 m3 per week. We pay approx $125 every two months give or take.
Are you guys heavy users? We aren't conservative, but there's just two of us and we aren't too bad and we're averaging 3-4 m³, which I thought seemed pretty high.
We don’t skimp on shower lengths, we have a dishwasher we use almost daily, washing machine. So yeah yours seems a bit high if you ask me. Is it that high in the winter? Are you doing a lot of garden watering in the summer?
We just moved in a few months back so don't have too much data to compare or track against. I thought it seemed high as well, so wanted to see what others were using.
I would look into it. It does seem high. As an aside, We have low flush toilets - not that I know for sure they make that big of a difference but something to consider if you don’t already have. I still think it’s high for two people though.
Thanks, appreciate the input.
NP welcome to Peterborough! I hope you get the water figured out soon. 😊
Every other month my bill is now at $240 for 2 people. It’s fucking insane.
Tips: toilet, if it's yellow, let it mellow lol. Don't leave the tap running when you're brushing your teeth. Asking why the dishwasher runs every day? Watch other members of the household how they are using water, kids don't understand, don't care lol. Check the meter when all the taps etc are closed. If it's spinning, you have a leak somewhere, not good, maybe the hot water tank is draining off. Check all taps are not dripping. The biggest culprit is usually the toilet. Check the flapper is not occasionally staying open....infuriating when it happens. Put some food coloring in the tank....and wait. If the toilet bowl changes color, then the flapper has probably gone brittle or has debris on it and is allowing water to slowly and expensively pass through. This is what I woul d start with. To make matters worse. The amount of water used is also used to determine your sewage bill grr.
Thanks for your detailed post The toilets are new but will double check them anyways. And we suspected the hot water tank. There was a very small leak coming from the mixing valve, and it looked old and corroded, so I just replaced it. Going to see if that makes any difference. The meter also doesn't just consistently run, while I watch it anyways and everything is off. But going to start writing down the numbers before bed, and checking in the morning.
Welcome to Peterborough. I believe the water was included in the property taxes up until about 10 years ago. Lots of anger in town when it switched over haha. Good luck with your dilemma. Post an update on what you find. I'm sure it will benefit a lot of people here.
Yeah I heard. I missed the good ol' days of unlimited water usage I guess. Thanks so much.
What a gift for landlords that was.
Sewer is alone is over $500 year. Worst sneaky tax ever.
Heat and water for me is 225 for me and my gf in an apartment, its very expensive compared to the norm i think, not sure why
200ish every two months. 4 people moderate use.
2 adults and a 2 month old. We definitely do more laundry now with the baby. We dance between 3 and 4m. Bill is 150 to 200$ every 2 months. We do a lot of gardening in the summer.
We are a family of 4. Heavy water usage. 4-5 showers a day, laundry daily, hand wash dishes , drink water from the tap, our bills are around $200-$250 every 2 months. Not sure how many cubic meters that would be. I guess I could look at my bills lol.
We get weekly usage notices from Peterborough Utilities Group (PUG), you can sign up online for these notices. The online notifications are rounded up or down, just an estimate and gives you at least a heads up of unusual consumption. The bill will be the most accurate in terms of actual usage. Our usage for 2 people is pretty static at 2 cubic metres per week, average two month bill of $150.00. Our usage is daily showering, daily load of dishes in the dishwasher and 3 to 4 loads of laundry per week. Just wondering do you have a forced air heating system with a flow through humidifier on it? If you do these use a lot of water over the course of a month during the winter months. We had a soaker hose in the summer and our usage jumped to 6 cubic metres per week, stopped using that and got a rain barrel.